Principal Software Engineer

Optum is a global organization that delivers care, aided by technology to help millions of people live healthier lives.

The work you do with our team will directly improve health outcomes by connecting people with the care, pharmacy benefits, data and resources they need to feel their best.

Here, you will find a culture guided by inclusion, talented peers, comprehensive benefits and career development opportunities.

Come make an impact on the communities we serve as you help us advance health optimization on a global scale.

Join us to start Caring.

Connecting.

Growing together.

Serve as a senior individual contributor responsible for architecting, designing, and delivering enterprise-scale, cloud-native Java solutions while raising engineering standards through deep technical expertise, hands-on problem solving, and architecture influence.

Software Engineering DOMAIN Enterprise / Healthcare WORK MODEL As applicable

We are seeking an accomplished Principal Software Engineer to operate as a senior individual contributor focused on technical strategy, solution architecture, hands-on engineering, and modernization of enterprise platforms.

This role is not a people-management position; it is designed for a deeply technical leader who can influence architecture, guide engineering direction, solve complex technical problems, and deliver high-quality solutions through expertise and credibility.

The successful candidate will bring strong experience across Java, Spring, Azure, DevOps, Kafka, Spark, APIs, relational databases, distributed systems, resiliency, security, and performance engineering.

This individual will partner with architects, product owners, engineering teams, QA, and production support to translate complex requirements into scalable designs, reference implementations, technical patterns, and production-ready software.

• Architecture and Technical Design Own and influence architecture for complex enterprise applications, services, APIs, data pipelines, integrations, and cloud-native components Translate business and platform requirements into scalable solution designs, architecture decisions, technical specifications, and implementation-ready engineering guidance Define and promote reusable technical patterns, reference implementations, design guardrails, and engineering standards across teams Ensure solutions align with enterprise architecture, security, resilience, performance, observability, maintainability, and operational support expectations
• Own and influence architecture for complex enterprise applications, services, APIs, data pipelines, integrations, and cloud-native components
• Translate business and platform requirements into scalable solution designs, architecture decisions, technical specifications, and implementation-ready engineering guidance
• Define and promote reusable technical patterns, reference implementations, design guardrails, and engineering standards across teams
• Ensure solutions align with enterprise architecture, security, resilience, performance, observability, maintainability, and operational support expectations
• Hands-on Engineering and Technical Execution Design, build, test, debug, optimize, and document complex enterprise applications, microservices, APIs, Spark jobs, and integration components Provide hands-on expertise in Java, Spring, Azure, DevOps, Kafka, distributed systems, data processing, and application architecture patterns Solve complex technical problems independently, including performance bottlenecks, scalability constraints, deployment issues, defect root causes, and production-readiness gaps Build reliable Kafka producer and consumer integrations, support event-driven architecture patterns, and guide teams on operationally safe implementation practices Deliver high-quality engineering outcomes without direct people-management responsibility, using technical influence, mentoring, and design authority to raise team capability
• Design, build, test, debug, optimize, and document complex enterprise applications, microservices, APIs, Spark jobs, and integration components
• Provide hands-on expertise in Java, Spring, Azure, DevOps, Kafka, distributed systems, data processing, and application architecture patterns
• Solve complex technical problems independently, including performance bottlenecks, scalability constraints, deployment issues, defect root causes, and production-readiness gaps
• Build reliable Kafka producer and consumer integrations, support event-driven architecture patterns, and guide teams on operationally safe implementation practices
• Deliver high-quality engineering outcomes without direct people-management responsibility, using technical influence, mentoring, and design authority to raise team capability
• AI-Enabled Engineering and Modernization Apply AI-assisted development practices to accelerate design analysis, coding, unit testing, documentation, defect analysis, modernization, and engineering productivity Use tools such as Codex, Claude, and comparable AI engineering assistants responsibly, with strong validation of generated code, test cases, designs, and documentation Identify high-value modernization opportunities where AI can reduce manual effort, improve engineering quality, and accelerate transformation of legacy applications and data-processing workloads Promote secure, compliant, and measurable use of AI tools while ensuring outputs meet enterprise engineering standards
• Apply AI-assisted development practices to accelerate design analysis, coding, unit testing, documentation, defect analysis, modernization, and engineering productivity
• Use tools such as Codex, Claude, and comparable AI engineering assistants responsibly, with strong validation of generated code, test cases, designs, and documentation
• Identify high-value modernization opportunities where AI can reduce manual effort, improve engineering quality, and accelerate transformation of legacy applications and data-processing workloads
• Promote secure, compliant, and measurable use of AI tools while ensuring outputs meet enterprise engineering standards
• Testing, Quality, and Release Readiness Prepare test plans, define test data requirements, establish test environments, and execute testing activities based on project needs Participate in design reviews, test case reviews, and Production Support readiness reviews for new releases Support QA, UAT, release, and post-release phases through defect analysis, root cause identification, change maintenance, and issue resolution Promote test automation and ensure adherence to coding standards, documentation standards, quality controls, and delivery governance Confirm that solutions meet functional, technical, performance, supportability, and timeline requirements before release
• Prepare test plans, define test data requirements, establish test environments, and execute testing activities based on project needs
• Participate in design reviews, test case reviews, and Production Support readiness reviews for new releases
• Support QA, UAT, release, and post-release phases through defect analysis, root cause identification, change maintenance, and issue resolution
• Promote test automation and ensure adherence to coding standards, documentation standards, quality controls, and delivery governance
• Confirm that solutions meet functional, technical, performance, supportability, and timeline requirements before release
• Technical Influence and Cross-Team Collaboration Partner with architects, product owners, SMEs, development teams, QA, DevOps, and production support to align technical decisions with business outcomes and platform strategy Lead architecture and design reviews, provide constructive technical feedback, and help teams make informed trade-off decisions Create and maintain architecture decisions, technical design documents, integration specifications, operational runbooks, test evidence, and release-support artifacts Communicate complex technical topics clearly to both engineering and non-technical stakeholders, including risks, options, dependencies, and recommendations
• Partner with architects, product owners, SMEs, development teams, QA, DevOps, and production support to align technical decisions with business outcomes and platform strategy
• Lead architecture and design reviews, provide constructive technical feedback, and help teams make informed trade-off decisions
• Create and maintain architecture decisions, technical design documents, integration specifications, operational runbooks, test evidence, and release-support artifacts
• Communicate complex technical topics clearly to both engineering and non-technical stakeholders, including risks, options, dependencies, and recommendations
• Comply with the terms and conditions of the employment contract, company policies and procedures, and any and all directives (such as, but not limited to, transfer and/or re-assignment to different work locations, change in teams and/or work shifts, policies in regards to flexibility of work benefits and/or work environment, alternative work arrangements, and other decisions that may arise due to the changing business environment). The Company may adopt, vary or rescind these policies and directives in its absolute discretion and without any limitation (implied or otherwise) on its ability to do so

• 12+ years of software engineering experience, including deep hands-on experience building and architecting large-scale enterprise applications
• Hands-on experience with Kafka streams, event-driven architecture, and reliable producer and consumer implementations
• Experience defining architecture, technical designs, integration patterns, resiliency approaches, performance strategies, and production-readiness standards
• Experience designing, developing, testing, debugging, documenting, and optimizing complex Spark jobs or large-scale data-processing workloads
• Experience with Oracle, SQL Server, DB2, or comparable relational database platforms, including SQL development, data modeling awareness, and performance considerations
• Solid expertise in Java, Spring Framework, Spring Boot, REST APIs, microservices, Azure Cloud, DevOps, CI/CD, and secure engineering practices
• Proven ability to operate independently as a senior individual contributor while influencing technical direction across teams
• Proven solid communication skills with the ability to explain architecture decisions, engineering risks, and solution trade-offs clearly
• AI and Modern Engineering Capabilities Knowledge of AI Builder and AI-enabled development workflows Proficiency with Codex, Claude, or comparable AI-assisted engineering tools Ability to coach developers on safe, effective, and outcome-oriented use of AI tools and credits Ability to validate AI-generated code and documentation for security, correctness, maintainability, compliance, and alignment with engineering standards
• Knowledge of AI Builder and AI-enabled development workflows
• Proficiency with Codex, Claude, or comparable AI-assisted engineering tools
• Ability to coach developers on safe, effective, and outcome-oriented use of AI tools and credits
• Ability to validate AI-generated code and documentation for security, correctness, maintainability, compliance, and alignment with engineering standards

• Experience in Pharmacy Benefit Management, healthcare, insurance, or other highly regulated enterprise domains
• Experience working in Agile or Scrum delivery models across geographically distributed teams
• Exposure to production-critical batch processing, high-volume data pipelines, and enterprise integration platforms
• Knowledge of AS/400 or IBM i platforms and legacy application modernization

• Architecture ownership Owns complex design decisions and connects technical direction to platform outcomes
• Owns complex design decisions and connects technical direction to platform outcomes
• Technical influence Builds alignment through expertise, design clarity, mentoring, and trusted engineering judgment
• Builds alignment through expertise, design clarity, mentoring, and trusted engineering judgment
• Engineering excellence Raises quality, security, resilience, observability, automation, and maintainability standards
• Raises quality, security, resilience, observability, automation, and maintainability standards
• Deep technical problem solving Resolves complex engineering issues through analysis, experimentation, and pragmatic execution
• Resolves complex engineering issues through analysis, experimentation, and pragmatic execution
• Ownership and accountability Operates independently, drives outcomes, and proactively identifies risks and dependencies
• Operates independently, drives outcomes, and proactively identifies risks and dependencies
• Modern engineering mindset Applies AI, automation, cloud, and modernization practices to improve delivery outcomes
• Applies AI, automation, cloud, and modernization practices to improve delivery outcomes

Measures of Success

• Architecture and design decisions improve scalability, resilience, security, performance, maintainability, and operational supportability
• Complex engineering problems are resolved with strong root-cause analysis, practical execution, and minimal production impact
• Reference implementations, engineering standards, and technical patterns improve consistency and delivery quality across teams
• AI-assisted engineering and automation produce measurable improvements in productivity, quality, documentation, and modernization velocity
• Stakeholders have clear visibility into architecture decisions, technical risks, dependencies, and recommended solution paths

At UnitedHealth Group, our mission is to help people live healthier lives and make the health system work better for everyone.

We believe everyone-of every race, gender, sexuality, age, location and income-deserves the opportunity to live their healthiest life.

Today, however, there are still far too many barriers to good health which are disproportionately experienced by people of color, historically marginalized groups and those with lower incomes.

We are committed to mitigating our impact on the environment and enabling and delivering equitable care that addresses health disparities and improves health outcomes - an enterprise priority reflected in our mission.